Steam for Linux

Ubuntu 12.10 installed from Windows 7 using wubi.exe and ATI/AMD HD 6870 - Never had so many issues with software before. Finally got it running though and got Tux. For those who need help, here it is -

1. Download Steam for Linux.2. Open Terminal (Press Windows Key and search for it)3. Copy and paste the following (You have to right click in terminal to paste) -

sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386 && sudo apt-get update

4. Open the Steam install file. Install it. I'm not sure whether I got Tux when I launched TF2 or when I logged into Steam, but I believe it was when I launched TF2

If you haven't got Tux yet, here's where I had issues. You have to launch TF2 to the main menu, but Ubuntu is so ridiculous that instead of telling the user when it has an issue, it freezes the whole system, forcing me to hard reset. I'm running off a Phenom Quad Core 8GB RAM and SATAIII SSD, it should not be crashing yet it did on several occasions. Not smart software at all.

After some Googling I figured I'd try and install the ATI/AMD Drivers. Since I have an ATI/AMD Radeon HD6870, I'll talk you through how I got the drivers installed and running properly.

AMD is smart enough to have across the board software support, which makes it a lot easier to find what you need when you're pulling your hair out like I was.

2. Extract the file, drag the .run file to the desktop and rename it to amd.run3. Open Terminal again and type in this command -

sudo sh amd.run

4. Be patient, it might take a while. I typed this in, the AMD thing came up and then I force quitted Terminal even when the process was running. And then the AMD Catalyst installer window popped up. This is all just chance, it is literally one of the worst pieces of software I've ever used.

Quoting Wikipedia:"Wubi, which is included as an option on the Live CD,[52] allows Ubuntu to be installed and run from within a virtual Windows loop device (as a large image file that is managed like any other Windows program via the Windows Control Panel). This method requires no partitioning of a Windows user's hard drive. It incurs a slight performance loss and hibernation is not supported. The filesystem is also more vulnerable to hard reboots."

I feel the information in the post on how to install will be quite useful to other newcomers. Whilst i can understand some of the issues you've faced, i will also urge you to look at other positive aspects of Linux. Any change is bound to cause some resistance and is only natural. If I were to use Mac after using Windows, i would struggle a bit to get used to new interface.Also, i would like to point out where the OS had been pre-installed for your hardware, you may not have these issues. I dual-boot Windows and Linux Mint and for the past couple of months, Linux Mint has become my primary choice for OS as i have been able to improve my productivity and functionally able to achieve most of the things i could do in Windows. I am able to run TF2 without any glitches on my Linux Mint laptop with Nvidia graphics card.

why didn't you install steam and the amd drivers from the official repositories? that would have been 2 or 3 mouse clicks. You had the windows reflex of hunting manually for drivers and programs on the internet. On Linux you almost never do that. It's much simpler 99% of the time since the package manager actually centralizes all of that.

don't be agressive. The point is that he was not familiar with Ubuntu, yet tried to make it work. What I find somewhat sad is that he came here to complain after the fact, when had he come here earlier, we could and would have advised him to do things right in the first place.

I have been enjoying Ubuntu for about a month now, but when I tried to download steam, there was a pop up stating that there are files that werent downloaded or cant be downloaded. I have updated Ubuntu. If any one would lend me a hand, it would me alot.